i have to say i am devastated with the way the zc debacle has come to end. there is a very serious conversation to be had about fandom etiquette in media spaces, especially in the media platforms where the people involved might come to learn about the fanfictions written about them.
this time the breach didn't come from a stupid jorunalist who published about fanfiction, or a media admin bringing up the topic with the drivers themselves, it came from you, the readers, pushing it up on every fucking platform i stepped in for the last 4 days. you were in the comments of the video oscar uploaded of him playing in the sim, in the mclaren comments section. their official tiktok, and i have seen so many people talking about it on twitter too. like. i get you love it, but what happened with zc is really scary. i know the f1 drivers have a very, very low chance of seeing this type of content, especially when the fics are locked. but you should have known that the other side of the equation (in zc's case) are people whose job is to be chronically online and they see everything that gets posted to their name.
you should not be talking about fanfic in places where the people involved might see them. and that's it. no exceptions.
i have seen people talking about my own fics out in the wild, and while it doesn't bother me personally, i know i am an outlier, and that probably comes from the fact not many people know and read my fics, because who knows if suddenly all the comments talking about zc these past days were about one of my fics, i too maybe would have freaked out and deleted everything and myself from the internet.
i get that people want to talk about the things that they love, even when they're fics; finding people out in the wild who like the same thing as you is such a joy, i know. but you should learn that there are places to do so. like here tumblr where you know drivers have the least chance to find it, and you could even stumble upon the actual author and become friends with them; or in private discord servers where you share things with your friends.
but these breaches in containment are what have pushed so many authors to abandon writing lately. the zc author isn't the only one who gave up on this hobby, and it's so fucking sad to see.
i hope this serves as a lesson to everyone.
be better.
